Answers From Tyaga

Author(s) Unknown

2005. The copyright on this work is privately held, obtained solely to preserve this texts autonomy. You are hereby authorized to freely reproduce and distribute this work - only in its entirety, including this clause. Do not claim it as your own, and do not inhibit others attempts to spread this work in whatever format they feel called to.

A man and his van
Another and his questions
For you and your search

*

"When the student is ready
The teacher will appear
Ancient Asian Proverb

There were four meetings in as many years.

The holy wanderer lives in a van named Tyaga, which is Sanskrit for relinquishment.

He calls the young seeker son in Spanish, Miho.

Their dialogue consists of 72 exchanges, which are numbered in this text for ease of reference.

This manuscript first surfaced in North America in the late 20^th Century. It was found floating in cyberspace, posted by anonymous hands to a free page on the World Wide Web.

Nothing else is known.

First Canto

1
Q: How old are you?
A: The skin is thirty-six.

2
Q: The skin?
A: Yes, the skin, the bones, muscle - the tissue and material you see as me is thirty six in Earth years.

3
Q: In Earth years, what do you mean?
A: We're on Earth, right? And that is our large measurement for the passing of our perceived time, correct? That is how many mile markers I have passed in this particular vehicle.

4
Q: Got it. So you don’t consider who I see to be you?

A: This is the only way I will be seen, and how much of that one considers to be their true nature is directly proportional to how unable they are to see any bigger picture. This flesh suit is no more my true being than my van - just a little closer to the core. Ultimately they perform the same function.

5
Q: Who are you then? Did we not shake hands?

A: Yes. Yes, we shook hands - I guided my material form and you guided your material form using similar instructions with a common goal. But we can no more touch each others true natures than we can grasp the air. We can put it in a jar, but when we fail to see that as a jar full of air we are not seeing it truly. I am a matterless soul; I am the air in this jar. Given this form I can interpret the sensory world; we can make sounds and communicate. But despite what you see, I am not the jar.

6
Q: So you have been other things?

A: Of course, it is the nature of spirit to travel in ways beyond one physical form. Merely because for a while my spirit is inside of this container, we should not extrapolate than that spirit, soul, and God are bound by the laws of physical state, that all can be explained by

our man-sized minds and contained by our man-sized perspectives. These are God-sized things.

7
Q: Prove that.

A: Let the air out of a tire. Where did the air go? How far can your vehicle now travel? Without the air , the tire is unable to fulfill its true purpose as designed and is essentially useless. But the air is not! Further, you cannot see the air - only the bulging of the full tire. The container gives it form and immediate purpose in the physical world. It is nice to see you, Mr. Tire!

8
Q: How do we know God exists?

A: Exists in what way - if triangles had a God, hed have three sides - that proves nothing but our compound ignorance.

9
Q: Compound ignorance?

A: Yes, not knowing and not becoming intelligent enough to know that we dont know. I will create God in my image and kill you because you have created Him in yours. Ridiculous. Ignorance squared, resulting in exponentially displeasing results.

10
Q: But how can we be sure were not it?

A: That we are not our own individual Gods, or that the man with most power is God?

11
Q: Yes.

A: He should try to make his own air and breathe for one hour. Man may have science, but he still cannot create raw materials. And even if the creation of all just happened, what is the force that caused it to happen, that planted such seed? Do you know?

12
Q: No.

A: Then you can draw your own conclusions based on your own container and your thirty years of awareness of this one way of being... or accept that much like the air, there is greater force that cannot be seen.

13
Q: But air can be contained and controlled -

A: Only in insignificantly small amounts. Sure, you fill up a tire, you put air in a jar and close the top. Try letting the air out of a hurricane. Point is, you can either attempt to understand via knowledge or you can attempt to understand through faith - which will explain so much more yet not give you explanations it does not owe you. You will wake up one day and find out which side of that fence you’re on - sitting on it is very uncomfortable. It is not a wall - see both sides. But know decisively where your feet are. As for me, I go with Gods universal forces and unexplainable vastness than mans science and hypotheses. And I believe what creatures are still free will agree with me.

14
Q: So who is God?

A: I don’t know.

15
Q: But you’re a holy man!

A: I did not say I don’t know God - only that I cannot give you definite parameters of his shape, size and color based on physical-world parameters like shape, size and color. He manifests in this world but is not of it. He exists in another way of being on a scale far beyond our comprehension.

16
Q: What if I don’t believe in God?

A: Truth is not reliant on your opinions to be so.

17
Q: But what about evolution?

A: Evolution exists. But who planted the seed? Whether this physical world container of mine has lineage back to a tadpole I cannot say for sure, only accept someone’s word for it. Someone whose informational lineage goes back to arguing the Earth is flat and who is convinced there is not life elsewhere since there is not water and plants. I think I’m going to side with God.

Even if it is so that I am, in the physical sense, evolved from a tadpole... who gave that tadpole breath and sentience, who programmed his instructional map? And, who created the waters he swam in? All who say prove God to me, I say prove lack of God to me! It is not I who has doubts - I only lack in explanations. If you have explanations, start at the beginning - no cheating with one of the floating rocks exploding. Where did the rocks come from, how do they float, put space in a jar for me.

18
Q: Okay, so is Jesus the answer, or Allah or Krishna or -

A: It is not my place as a holy man to rate the tributaries that lead to the sea of knowing God.

19
Q: Forgive me, but that’s a cop-out.

A: No, it is a matter of perspective. I respect all tributaries and rivers but my devotion lies in service and worship to the ocean, whatsoever my abilities to explain or not explain, and whomsoever may agree or disagree. God has no name, He has no face. We call him He and refer to his many names and likenesses as guideposts along our

respective paths.

There were no cameras or microphones even on the ancients, let alone on God himself. He is - he does not need to be defined by His subjects or fought over by his self-appointed soldiers.

I do not need to see the air as shape, color or what have you to breathe, to know if I do not breathe my physical presence will cease. To be thankful for every breath, to offer thanks to the creator of this air, such things do not need scientific classification, intellectual quantification or the right color skin.

I say God because it is the word that means the Higher Power in my native tongue. I do not us it as a specific or containing term, but as a reference to a limitless and inherently formless intangible.

20
Q: So a key is to believe in what we cant see or prove?

A: Yes, that is called faith. More important is to not believe that just because we can’t see it or explain it, it doesn’t exist. Not believing in what you cant see personally is merely ignorance. To believe that because of this nothing else exists, anywhere, for anyone... that is compound ignorance. These eyes are physical and they only see matter. It is what your inner eye sees that is your true sight for all beyond this material world.

21
Q: What if none of that matters to me?

A: It should - if you do not think of anything outside your small room it is a very restricted view. That is what doors are for, to take you to other rooms. The truths we are here to learn are far too big to fit inside your one small room!

22
Q: Where should I start searching?

A: I suggest you read the Bible, but with the understanding that it was translated by man. I suggest you read the Bhagavad-Gita as it is, with the same understanding. I suggest you feast on the words of the Buddha and fast when you are hungriest. Go be still in the woods, approach the natural world in a state of humble servitude and reverence. Then come back in one year and tell me what you do not believe.

Second Canto

1
Q: I have learned much in the woods - what is your connection with the animal world?
A: My connection is one of kinship to the winged world. As I awakened and in fact even before, I felt strong connection with the pets of my household. So I have love for animals - but the birds trigger something in me, they speak to a place inside deeply. It was through them I saw the animals playing with each other, their wisdom and humor, their governing and communications.

When I lived outdoors with them, I heard them speak to each other in ways most who only see them as they walk through parks do not. And it touched me, and they communicated with me too! Perhaps they sense things about my souls previous journey that I most of the time cannot remember.

2
Q: So you think we come back?

A: Reincarnation? Oh yes. Were here to learn and we stay until we complete our studies. For better or worse, our physical carriers tend to break down or make wrong moves at crucially decisive moments and we die. But we dont completely leave the table until we’ve cleaned our plate. Karma is the key. Learn about karma and you will understand much more than just reincarnation. An understanding of karma is a key ingredient in the enlightened soul.

3
Q: The whole Do unto others...

A: As you would have them do unto you, uh-huh. One golden rule we cannot seem to follow. Let alone the Buddhist Eightfold Path, the four principles of Krishna Consciousness or the Ten Commandments. However much of any or all you absorb only makes you a better person with greater spiritual connection!

4
Q: How do I balance this spiritual side with my daily life?

A: You do not balance the two as separate entities - you see yourself now as a spiritual being. It changes you, thus you will act differently. If the spiritual side is you, then everything you do is infused with your knowledge of your path and your reverence for your Creator and Provider. It may require you to give up some things, or allow some other individuals to remove themselves from your life. Stop

digging yourself in and start digging out. You work hard either way, but it is a matter of direction. And your direction leads where you’ll go.

As far as in practice, start with a morning ritual - a walk or sitting time, but pray - give thanks. Announce to the universe your intentions for the day and ask only for to be of service to God. This will open your door, allowing more spirit in, giving you purpose therefore strength, and understanding therefore clarity, and focus therefore efficiency in your thoughts and deeds.

5
Q: It seems so complicated.

A: Life can be that way when our priorities lead us off the path. If it seems complicated, simplify. Trim the fat off of your life. Give some things away. Live at a more humble and compact level and you will find you do not need so much. If you do not need so much, you will not have to sell so much of your time away.

Being firmly on your spiritual path doesn’t have to make you all somber and serious, but once you realize in the bigger picture what you are and are a part of, have some iota of God-consciousness and lead a day of meaning filled with acts of devotion, it makes it hard to sit down and drool to a sit-com in front of the big screen TV, you know? So maybe the big idiot box will go, and the sit-com with it. Perhaps the place you work at is a bog box of idiots. Perhaps it will go too.

6
Q: Won’t people think I’m crazy?

A: Being perfectly well adjusted to a perverse and insane society is not a sign of actual sanity and well being. Conversely, if people who walk in ways of unharmony with the basic teachings the scriptures and connected enlightened souls suggest question your course - you must be doing all right. They are not a beacon to be led to - but a landmark that tells you how right you are.

7
Q: I almost get that...

A: A light is placed where you do not wish to be - the dimmer its glow in your rearview mirror then, the better your path, no? If angry, disillusioned, adrift people see your way as inharmonious with theirs, all is good! Do you want to be like these people?

8
Q: No!

A: Do you understand that it was a path that led them to their place?

9
Q: Okay, yes...

A: Then understand if they see your path as wrong it is vindicating.

10
Q: How is it some of them have it so easy?

A: We do not know how hard or easy they have it unless we could be inside their skin and look in the mirror. Material stuff - money and possessions, even lots of friends - highly overrated and extremely detrimental. There are prices for such wealth, and a problem today is everyone knows the cost of everything but nothing about the prices they pay. They are owned by their possessions and ruled by the whims of others.

If times are hard, you are not being punished by God - you are paying a balance on something that is owed, or being tested. This is not supposed to be an easy life.

11
Q: Do animals have souls?

A: Of course. Are you not an animal?

12
Q: Then how are we given dominion over them?

A: Dominion means a different thing to the man living in harmony with the natural world versus a man using vague scriptural language to justify his convenient and barbaric treatment of others.

13
Q: Isn’t it a good thing to be a productive member of society?

A: Not if that society produces bags of crap. I don’t care how shiny it is or what the ad copy says either - if you don’t know its on your shoe, you’re too distracted. Any society that places, on the whole now I’m speaking, such little value on art and higher thinking, is a very shallow end of the pond to be wading in.

You can get covered by it and bathe yourself in it due to the nature of its constant barrage from every angle. We live in an age of conflict and illusion, above and beyond the illusions of material life. A culture more concerned by what you have than who you are inside is not one copasetic to the basic tenets by which a true seeker walks.

You have been taught of the material world first and then, if by some tragedy or awakening moment of clarity you are jarred and your perspective is shifted, you leave that to find yourself and your inner being, your spirit and soul. This is backwards from higher cultures. Any society that treats individuals like ours does is not one interested in brotherhood, Godliness or Higher Values. Actions speak louder than words - all it takes is one good eye to see that!

14
Q: But that happens within freedom. Otherwise, if all are to be equal, its Communism instead of Democracy, and Capitalism -
A: I don’t care for the nomenclature, these terms mean nothing to me... One should help his Brothers, take only what he needs, not covet or have greed, help to spread Good, and do unto all his relations - and I do mean all because were all connected by this web of life, all living beings - as he would like to be treated.

Respect, inner dignity, devotion to acts of meaning, God-consciousness. Call all else what it is by its potential ends or be fooled yourself by its means.

Even judged by society’s own science, it is claimed that dignity and awareness separate us from so-called lower life forms. So why do we spend our time behaving like animals? The animals are in survival mode in very different circumstance than we are.

We share the planet but live in different worlds. Nobody’s Godform tells a man to screw, fight, eat or exploit everything he comes into contact with - that is another form of bigotry and it is learned.

If that beautiful woman over there was swinging a big sack of crap over her head, though she is attractive to the senses you’d still move away to keep from getting any on you. Well that is society, and one either has sense enough to go the other way or he is ruled by his senses and gets the splattering he’s got coming to him. Most manly men I know are very animalistic by nature, and they’re constantly getting splattered and don’t know why. Social ridicule? Disapproval? Hey - spit washes off easy. That other stuff will take the rest of your life to strip clean of. Roll right whatever the cost.

15
Q: How do I deepen my understanding?
A: Mark your body as a temple of God. Forces flow through open doors. A little flows through the tentatively opened heart, but the big leap of faith is to open ones inner doors as an act of devotion. When you mark your body as a temple of God it sends a definite message to the universe and solidifies the codes within you of how you will walk. Then consider how you will treat this body like a temple. Consider a vegetable-based diet.

16
Q: But I like steak!
A: It is not about you. You may have behaved as such before, and that was enjoyable to you. But as we evolve we change our ways of being, even while in this skin suit.

Those days were fun, but this is a different chapter. It is not about you anymore. Those holes will be filled and you shall be nourished, but this is not your candy drawer, miho. It is unwise to kill the friends of your host when the garden is full of fruit.

17
Q: I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
A: That is fine. You come before me because I seem a man down the path a ways from where you stand. You ask me questions in hopes of gaining Greater Understanding.

All I can do is offer my answers and reasonings - they work for me. If they, despite their inconvenience and uncomfortability to your physical form, seem wise... perhaps they are something to consider. But we all walk the path as we evolve and are therefore able.

18
Q: But Indians slaughtered Buffalo -
A: No, Native Americans ceremonially hunted as ritual to feed themselves in a very different time and circumstance than you or I know. They thanked the spirit of each and used every part. They worshipped the Buffalo... he fed, clothed and housed them. He was never an industry product to be consumed.

That’s different than a backyard barbeque or a fast Happy Meal at a McBurger’s. There is no meaning and very little reverence there, and these are different times. As society sinks lower, should we sink with it because our better alternatives are less convenient?

19
Q: Well what about plants?
A: Plants themselves and their fruits, their vegetables, are here as food. All life is the presence of God and should be treated as such whenever possible. But in a posture of humble gratitude, if one waters the seeds and is of service to the garden, the garden provides in turn. Never forget that the plant has its own sentience and consciousness, very different than ours but there none the less.

Plants are the Earth taking care of her friends. Even science teaches us that we exhale what a plant breathes, and a plant exhales what we breathe... that the soil grows what feeds beings, and what beings return to the soil helps things to grow. It’s a cycle, a circle, like so much - I think it was Crow Dog who said everything of power works in circles. Birds nests, hurricanes, celestial rotation, birth-and-death, all circles, all dances. You will be healthier dancing with the sprouts than decaying with the steaks.

20
Q: What books do you have aboard your van?
A: Currently, the Crow Dog book, its a biography of a Medicine Man. The Holy Bible, Thoureaus Walden, the Bhagavad-Gita, Dao De Ching, Sun Tzus Art Of War, The Twilight Of American Culture by Morris Berman, some D.C. Bianchino, I think the Sweet Grass booklet among others, Lame Deer - Seeker Of Vision, Memoirs of Chief Red Fox, Black Elk Speaks, and I had a copy of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee but I gave it away. All profound works that nourish my soul and feed my minds reasons.

21
Q: They are food for your journey?
A: Well, when you have reasons the hardships of your path become challenges, opportunities to rise to another level of devotion to it. Reasons are the manifestation of faith and will make the cold less chilling and the heat less tiring. When you know your path is where you are belong and you believe in what it is and what it represents, you are honored to take the steps required of you to walk it. They are now devotional acts and a form of prayer as you sanctify the task.

22
Q: Is a person free from responsibility if they are ignorant or cannot see the bigger picture of their actions?
A: There is no such thing as not getting your own hands dirty. If you sweep the floor of the man whose business defiles a way of life halfway across this planet, even in ignorance or by being third or fourth party to some distant investment - your hands are dirty as well.

Now, time and circumstance are factors. In this age and its conditions it is impossible to attain purity. So we must do what we can as time and circumstance will allow. If Tyaga is not fed, I am homeless... exposed and unable to travel and teach.

So we adapt where we need to and aspire to the next level of purity, responsibility, and thoughtful behavior from wherever we are. I dont wish to fund big oil, but I do as a means to better end and only hope that my other acts can balance and outweigh such compromises.

23
Q: Do you ever wish for more?
A: No way! I wish for less and less. More is too much to worry about. Not all who have little are poor, as not all who wander are lost. I had more, chapters ago. And those were good times - but this is a different chapter, and it is a good time as well. We who crawl around on this planet must at times shed our former skins to become our future selves.

24
Q: How does one begin down the path?
A: Other than simplifying?

25
Q: Yes.
A: Fix what is wrong with your life and your livelihood. If your hands are dirty, clean them. If you have wronged another, atone. Pray daily. If there is something you have been neglecting, do it - take care of it. Remove the burdens that you have taken on that do not have to do with family or God, or the path you have been called to. Be grateful for each day as an opportunity to be of service, and remove yourself from society and its perversities. Cover your TV set and use it as a bookshelf.

Remove yourself from situations that compromise your purpose and integrity. Begin to treat others - Mother Earth and all creatures - as you wish to be treated. That’s a big one, a big step... to acknowledge all life as the manifestation of the Creator. Start there and you can't stray too far.

26
Q: Must an ascetic life be devoid of pleasure?
A: Archie Bunker once said "Any day above ground is a good day" and I have to go with him there. I take great pleasure in waking up to the song of the birds and the purr of the diesel trucks, I relish every bite of food... when you live in an awakened and reverent state, the natures of your pleasures change. Letting go of old pleasures is hard, but shedding skin is not easy. On this and your question, I suggest you consult with the butterfly.

Canto Three

1
Q: What of those portions of what I find that I cannot accept?
A: Just as you do not have to believe in something for it to be the truth, your disagreeing with a portion of something does not negate the value or validity of the rest of it. Keep in mind sacred texts have been around for thousands of years and other ways of living have been around even longer. Anything that has endured for that long is worth investigating. And we are put here to seek and find and grow.

Morsels of profound value are sometimes not easily digestible - you may not have had a taste for brussel sprouts as a young child either. But we evolve. As the scenery changes, so does the seeker. A Cherokee artist once told me Truth is truth wherever you find it. Find truth and take it one bite at a time. Its not about speed, its about direction and intent. You have a right to be a green apple along this path.

2
Q: Are there truths that are the same for everyone?
A: Yes but truth is not necessarily a conduit for material gain or popularity contests, essentially what our culture is about and has become. And through different paths we may have different reasons for the truths we grow to use as guideposts on our walk. But truth is truth - love is a truth. If you feel love and square yourself away so you’re not living in your own head, you will be loving.

God is truth, a Higher Power. The fact you will leave this body is truth. Will you do it with inner dignity or the outward kicking and and screaming of plastic surgery this and bitter that. That is their skin and mind talking, not the true inner being. Regrets are like baggage, and we are all in line for a cargoless train.

Resolve and let go, bit by bit, as part of your path now, or have tumultuous final days. Who needs to carry all that around anyway? The less distracted you are by load and turmoil, the more truth you’ll find! Use your energies to walk light and dig deep.

3
Q: But what of the comforts this life provides?

A: First it is beneficial to separate ones wants from ones needs. It is when we are unclear about our needs that we are consumed by our wants. This takes time and guidance, both intellectual and via experience. I began finding my way in my mid-twenties and truly found it ten years later. I have walked it since and cannot be veered; my body will be found by the side of it.

Comfort to me is inner peace, sense of balance, and commitment to the path - these three pillars, through faith and purpose, ease heat, hunger, and any physical extremes or maladies I may be experiencing in my physical being. Some must remain free to be available for what may come next. Endeavor to be a well honed tool available to greater hands and do not allow yourself to get soft. Your way of life and reality on this planet have little in common.

4
Q: But shouldn’t one partake of the fruits of their labor?

A: It is all a balance - for you to have abundance, another must have drought. Nothing just appears in this world, it is taken from somewhere else. Whatever you may possess is at someone else’s expense.

5
Q: Isn’t that someone else’s problem?

A: Poverty and repression due to greed is a cancer. You can cut off your leg if you want, but the cancer is not gone so long as you need to walk. Over-consumption is sin #1. It is better to take only what you need by good means, and pass along the rest. If by good means I cannot generate enough to buy the comforts as you call them, I do not want them. I am one point of universal balance when I accept and live within my means and walk by higher tenets.

6
Q: So part of it is to travel light?
A: Most definitely! Truly free creatures possess nothing. For us in this time and circumstance, that is not feasible. But as an overall mindset to have as little as possible so that you are not owned by your possessive cycle - laboring to earn, spending to obtain, spending to insure and protect and secure, having to earn more when what you have isn’t enough, and so forth - is essential.

Jesus, Buddha... God's incarnations and manifestations haven’t shown up with matching luggage, have they? And the priests, monks, and sannyasi - Gods truest servants - do not have a whole lot either. Are we establishing a pattern here? Plus when you have a lot of stuff, the fear of someone else taking your stuff and the lust for your neighbors stuff brings out the darkness in the human experience and guides us to reprehensible behavior when we put our faith in such pursuits of material nature. I know you want, but it’s not about you.

7
Q: Would you make everyone believe like you?

A: I cannot insist another behave in a way that is not his nature. It is in my nature to think deeply and walk to a certain set of guiding principles that have meaning for me and so I do. We all must make it through this journey as best as we can, and though what appears to me as senseless slaughter and needless cruelty to each other weighs on me at times, it is all a part of others trajectories through this life, and they will answer for their transgressions, as will I for mine.

Though I may try to guide some people or change the course of certain events I see unfolding before me, it is ultimately between that soul and God; I am not the judge or jury.

I hope and pray it becomes others nature to be kinder and gentler, to reach for higher levels of thought and see the value in lower levels of luxury. It works out better for all as a whole that way - but if it is not ones nature to be concerned with the whole, they will not behave in a manner that is conductive to enlightenment or God-consciousness. That upsets me, but I must tend to my own garden.

8
Q: What if everyone went off and lived in a van? Who would row the boat?

A: The boat exists only to provide a seat for those who acknowledge its existence. Having no use for that boat, I do not feel need to labor and buy my ticket on board so I may grab my allotted oar. The masses... the majority will never consider the Higher Path, because they see it as the lower road. Their measurements being money numbers, possessions, and the envy of their peers... that is what they sell themselves for and they cannot be retaught otherwise.

Few will be called and fewer still will answer. What if everyone became a lawyer or office manager - who would be here to answer your questions, seeker? We would truly be a lost tribe, then. Rowing the boat is for those who want to go where the boat is going. My concern is where my soul is going and where my own footsteps are leading me while I’m on this walk.

9
Q: But what if that leaves me alone?

A: There are traits that society truly sees as attractive. Do not confuse it with what they say - their walk speaks more than their talk - and there may come those who see your true qualities as desirable, like God, like the wild creatures and fellow seekers. You will be in good company, though we may never congregate.

There is an ancient Chinese text called Dao De Jing and it says When everyone is agreed on what is beautiful, all have determined what is ugly. Think higher than in material terms and dig beneath surface level, and this becomes more and more obvious.

10
Q: Why do many seek alone?

A: Being alone allows me to be mentally still when I need to be and gives me time free of distractions. It is self-centered, yes, but at a much higher purpose than selfish. They are not the same, and my Good Work is best done in solitude. That may change and Ill change with it Im sure, but that is the way it is now.

Christ went to the desert, Thoreau went to the woods... journeys and chapters of seekers in quest. I have this little van and a road to follow, I have been given a lifetime of devotional activities and am very grateful. D.C. Bianchino said When you take on the world you raise yourself - when you take on yourself, you raise the world.

I am a monk. There have always been monks, and there will always be monks. Often times in this world, human companionship - for all it provides - is not conducive to the calm waters where sentience and spiritual food grows... at least not in the beginning stages. It must incubate in a solitary soul, what our culture has always termed finding oneself.

One can never know how lost he is until he finds himself. That gives him vision beyond what he had, and he can begin to see the big picture. A seeker is an intentional community of one. Because if you are not whole in yourself and discoveries, what of value can you possibly bring to a union? Most approach relationships with What can I get? It is only when all approach with What can I offer, what can I give? that you will truly find a union in which all are fed and honored as they so need.


Canto Four

1
Q: Is it hard to maintain life as an outcast?
A: Well, as you progress down the path the importance of fitting in diminishes greatly. I am not a part of materialist culture, I have devoted my time here and life force to higher things. I answer to Greater Callings than production, consumption and titillation. That was given me as a choice, as it is all sentient beings. I took it. In a world of effects, I was called on to be a cause.

I am years down this path, miho. Am I to hand enlightenment, connection, spiritual awakening, sentience, and my meaning and purpose back to God and just go live for gratification of my senses? The senses are wonderful, they are gifts. But they are not my master - if they are your master, you will live very differently and we can only coexist on a limited basis.

Explained another way - this beard. I have been asked on occasion why I go out of my way to be different. The beard grows as it is supposed to, I just choose not to take daily action to hinder it. If this is what occurs naturally, my question is to all who would ask me - why are you all trying to be different by not having one? Just because there are more like you than me where you are, it does not make it any less undignified to consider only your way as the right way for all. It only proves sciences theories about herd mentality.

A man is his way, I am my way. He has answered his calls, and I answer mine. My way makes sense to me though it may not to him, and vice-versa. It is merely a matter of perspective. And we gain perspective from where we choose to stand in relation to what is happening. And where we stand directly affects our view. He has chosen to stand where he is - even by default, by choosing not to consider standing elsewhere - and I have chosen to stand where I am.

2
Q: What keeps you on the path?
A: An irrevocable commitment to step up and do the work I signed on for. When I accepted a more spiritual path, I knew there would be demands made on my physical self.

I mean I get tired, I get to feeling unmotivated or intimidated by what the day has laid out for me. But it is in the rising to these challenges I grow stronger. And I rise through sanctification of the task - all I do I do for God, for the universe. Sometimes for others or what have you, but done in love and light good acts are all prayers, all a form of giving respect and glory to, and being of service to, the Maker.

You move a fly out of harms way, that sends a huge message to the universe... and it is a way of offering obeisances to the life, therefore to the source of that life. You must build your temple, whatever it may be.

3
Q: What if it is that fly’s destiny to be killed by you?
A: Ah, good question. I have no answer, but to say I personally believe that - despite the karma of the little soul - it would not be the right thing for me to do, so I don’t do it. Karma finds us all, it will find him as the universe so decrees.

Now, if he were attacking me, physically drawing blood I mean and not just being a disturbance, it would then be a matter of defense. Because I am a pacifist and believe in peaceful means does not mean I wont respond in kind if attacked. But just for flying around? He’s merely doing the job given to him to do. He is a fly. That is what he does, and it is his right. He might annoy me, but so do politicians and I cant swat them either. Welcome to the physical world!

4
Q: But how do you reconcile violence, even in self-defense?
A: Well first off I would apologize profusely and offer obeisances to the creature, be it fly or man or scorpion. I am sorry to you and all glories to the Creator but I must defend myself, and truly wish him well on his journey. It is a sad thing to have to resort to, violence is. But if I do not protect myself I am doing a disservice to my Creator, for my body is a temple of the Lord and my every act for Good Ripples in His name. I am more of service to the Creator alive and strong, able to speak and write and do good.

This is why I eat correctly, this is why I renounced so much of what society deems healthy and normal, and this is why I would defend myself if physically attacked. I have empathy - the mosquito is just doing her job, looking for something to eat and a place to lay her eggs. The thief is run amok by demons. But you will neither steal my blood nor degrade the sanctity of my home by physical attack.

I once met a sannyasi with one leg - bandits came to do harm to the temple and this man fought valiantly to protect the deities and fellow devotees. It is part of being alive in the physical world. It is a dangerous place. But it is a beautiful garden to learn such lessons in, is it not?

And I have also put suffering animals out of their misery. I know, as the Buddhists say, There is suffering. But I believe compassion to be a higher lesson. If this is wrong, many apologies to God... but I do it as a final act of love from one being to another, an act of dignity and respect unto the creature. It is not sport, and these are aspects of my relationships to my fellow beings I would never enter into lightly when called upon to do so.

Force is a serious dance, miho.

5
Q; How do you put your ego aside to receive the Higher Power?
A; Get your head out of the way and let it happen. Understand its not all about you anymore, that we are on to other things. Spend some nights laying out under the stars to gain a proper perspective as to how tiny and gnat-like you are to a galaxy. Realize that we are mere grains of sand on the beach of all there is, and our lifetimes merely blinks of the universal eye. Accept that you will always be working with raw materials created by Greater Hands.

The gardener should never take credit for the blossoming of the seed. We can work, we can make good ripples... but ultimately if the Earth were to decide between all of humanity and a single tree wed be kicked right off the planet. If you have any ego left at all, you do not fully comprehend these things... that we are not entitled to anything, the scale of things on a spiritual level, the magnitude of being of service to the seed.

All that said, we have potential to each be beings of much love and light, proper emissaries of our Creator in the Sacred Garden. Forces flow through open doors; endeavor to be an open door, and they will flow through you. Just don’t let prevailing winds or the hot air that is involvement with society veer you or blow that door shut while youre disturbed or distracted. If you feel the signal fading, readjust your dial or re-aim your antenna! Feed yourself well through your little eye cameras. It is your choice where you focus your lens. As computer programmers say, Garbage in, garbage out.

6
Q: How do you know when you’ve made a connection with God?
A: The connection to God is something you already have - we just have a difficult time digging down through the layers to the core of our presence. But when life feels like a flowing river, lots of little coincidences and a magical quality to it, you are on the path. And the path is connection with God. There will be signs. The animals respond differently to you as well.

7
Q: How should I pray?
A: Chant his names. For example, devotees of Krishna chant a mantra of some of Gods names. This pleases Him, not because He is vain or needs our approval - but because it shows us to be approaching the position we should be in - it puts us in the proper humble and reverent posture. It purifies the air and it purifies ourselves, thereby is of service to God.

John Coltrane played his saxophone and Native Americans played prayer songs on their flutes. Drums have been beaten since the dawn of man. Same food, different taste. Pray by living right, by walking the path in a manner pleasing to Him. Mother Earth and our relations thereon will appreciate this as well. Thus, more Glory to the Creator! Sing His praises, vibrate the air around you with prayer and song. Good Vibrations is more than just a Beach Boys lyric.

And do not disrespect God by asking for things. Ask Him for guidance to your inner strength, to show you how to be of service. Don’t ask for a better car! That’s your job, your part of the puzzle to figure out. If you’re living right, you’ll have all the car you need. Ever have a friend over, serve them food, bring them juice, loan them records... and then they ask if they can borrow twenty bucks ‘til Tuesday? Don’t be that ingrate in the house of the Lord. And it’s all His house!

8
Q: What is the proper way to offer respect to God?
A: Prayer is putting yourself in proper posture to God - one of humble gratitude, respect, and service. It has less to do whether there is candle flame or incense or if the words are right. Though words will help you hone and focus, and vibrate the air and yourself in devotional ceremony, it is more about the footsteps and the path you walk. Indeed, your footsteps are your truest show of respect to the Creator. Do they follow where he has led you, miho? Are they straight and true? Does every one have meaning?

9
Q: Yes, I mean I try -
A: Then your every breath is a prayer, your every action is an offering, and your vehicle - this skin suit - is a temple of God. Endeavor to be as He would towards your brothers and sisters, towards all of your relations - our Mother Earth, those of wing, the four-legged, the crawlies and insects - and your day and life can be one long prayer. Live in a reverent state.

Another key is the word offer - don’t ask God for favors. He owes you nothing and has already blessed you, just as this world owes you nothing yet blesses you with His fruit of air and water and light... and opportunity to be both seed in the Garden and pebble to the pond.

Offer your acts to Him, offer your food to Him. Don’t dare take a bite without humbling yourself and giving thanks to He who fills your plate! Cause people to be fed and nourished, and make Good Ripples outward into the pond.

10
Q: How does one be in this world but not of it?
A: What are you?

11
Q: I’m a man.
A: No. You take the form of a man, but what are you? In the physical world, this world, what is your raw material that you are made of? What is everything made of?

12
Q: Matter.
A: Yes, now dig deeper. What is matter?

13
Q: Scientists tell us matter is moving subatomic particles...
A: Yes, and science has this one partially correct - you are made of vibration. Like the sound from Coltrane’s sax, like the chant of a devotee, like the howl of a wolf, like the song of the sparrow. With the naked eye it cannot be seen, but it is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Matter is vibration, and our deepest selves are soul. Another intangible. Realize we are made of non-Earthly materials and our water-based container can serve as your home and Gods temple. But do not confuse it with who or what you are in the big picture.

14
Q: What about those who insist their way is the only way?
A: If there were one river, they’d be fighting over which bank to sit on. What manifestation of Supreme Lord to offer worship and service to should not be used to divide us - but to unite us. A rainbow has many colors of light. To argue over which is brightest is a waste of our existence and our life force. This existence is full of mysteries and we are programmed to only accept concrete answers. The Creator and His ways and forces of the universe are beyond us, but that is ok - it is not our position. One way may speak louder to me, but who am I to judge what I barely understand?

There are many questions but the biggest question - How may I be of service to you today, God? - is the one that should shine over all else. Indeed, however you color the stained glass or mark the skin, if your ultimate goal is to be of service to the Lord, when you get right down to it there will me much common ground as your daily good work is completed. Perhaps we will once again be so enlightened as to build with each other on this common ground. No Godform is going to tell you to kill those who disagree - that is mans agenda creeping in through twisted translation. None will truly preach violence, fear, hatred and greed.

That leaves you peace, empathy, love and sharing. Dress it up however you want - but walk a path of those with good intent and you will walk in the footsteps of your favorite Savior.



Om.
Hallelujiah.
Ki Jaya.
Ho.
Blessed Be.
Ashe.
Mitakuye Ouyasin.
Amen.